Modern Love
by justatragicgirl3
Summary: What if Rory didn't pull away from the kiss at sookie's wedding? and what if Dean caught her and Jess? Chapter 8 is up! Read&Review! Lit. Some JJ
1. Can't Get Started

**Summary: What if Rory didn't pull away from the kiss at sookie's wedding? And what if Dean caught them?**

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING. there are some quotes from "I can't get started"**

**A/N hello everyone this is my first fan fic and i'm very excited to publish it on here :) I've had a billion ideas and i'll probably turn those into fics one day but for now I'll just be doing this one. PLEASE read an review! tell me what i need to improve on because i know there are lots of things! Read on...**

"Come here, you!" Her father hugged her, and in perfect timing his cell phone rang. He stepped back and pulled it out of his pocket, "It's probably work." He told her.

"On a Sunday?" she asked shocked. A year ago if her dad had gotten a call from work, especially on a Sunday it would probably be to fire him. He was never the responsibility type.

"Hey lady, I've got a lot of responsibility now, okay?" he said as if reading her mind. She smiled and reflected happily on the changed man standing before her.

"Okay." She nodded. It was good to have him back in her life again, and this time it seemed he was staying for good. Maybe the next wedding she'd be getting dressed up for would be her mom and dad's?

"Be right back." He walked away. As he stepped off he revealed something in the distance that his body had been hiding before. A pleasantly familiar figure lingered down the hill. He had been told not to bother her, not to go looking for her, but since when did he do what he was told? What was it going to hurt to see her for a second, especially from a distance? He was about to walk away until he was spotted, then something told him to stay, no something _demanded_ him to stay.

_Was that really him?_ She thought. It was! It was Jess, the James Dean replica himself. Her stomach fluttered like it always did when she saw him. But why? Why was she so happy, excited even, to see him? What was he doing here anyway? Oh no, if he's here for good Dean will not leave her alone even for a second. He's so jealous, she couldn't even imagine his reaction if he found out that she went to New York to see him, and ditched school and disappointed her mom in order to do it.

"What are you doing here?" she heard herself blurt out. She didn't even realize that she had ran to him. She immediately wanted to rephrase what she had just said, but what _was_ he doing here! Did he get into trouble maybe?

"Hello to you too." Jess was surprisingly calm around someone that made him so antsy. He was hardly taken aback by her blunt greeting.

"Is everything okay?" She looked beautiful.

"You look nice," he didn't even hear her last question.

"Thank you, what are you doing here?" She blushed at the compliment, as if he had called her the most beautiful woman since Marilyn Monroe. Nice was all he said, but it felt like he meant so much more.

"I moved back," he said as-a-matter-of-factly, completely monotonous.

Her heart stopped. He was back? Back for good? She had to fight the smile teasing the corner of her mouth. Was this real? "But, What? Why?" She could barely get it out.

Why did he want to move back? Because he missed her, everything about her. It was the hardest thing he'd done in a while to say goodbye to her at the bus station. That couldn't be the end he had told himself. He had to come back. He came back because he _had_ to. But he couldn't exactly tell her all that. "I just, wanted to."

Rory didn't need to hear anymore to know what he meant. She lunged on him and kissed him like she had never kissed Dean before. She hadn't thought about what she was doing for a second, no thought rang through her head except that she needed him. She needed him and it scared her. Jess kissed back and deepened it. Her heart rate went up so high she could feel it pound throughout her whole body.

He was immensely surprised how spontaneous she had been with the kiss. What about him brought out her risky side? He thought to himself. But he didn't think for long, he had just gotten exactly what he'd wanted for months and months. All of the wait led to this moment, and he was going to take advantage of it.

They stood there kissing more and more passionately. The whole world around them disappeared, and they didn't want it to come back. They were both afraid of the moment when reality would hit, because with reality comes a million reasons why they should stop and why this is wrong.

Meanwhile

Loralei had just had her hear pulled out of its comfort zone by Christopher Hayden for the upteenth time. Sherry was pregnant. How could that happen? She cursed silently in her head repeatedly. She was choking on her tears she was refusing to let loose. They stung the back of her eyes, begging to be let free. She heard footsteps behind her. Hold it in Loralei, pull it together, she demanded. She turned around and saw her daughter's boyfriend, Dean looking very distressed.

"There you are! Now do you know where Rory is?" Dean asked audibly low on breath. He must have been running he thought. The wedding! It just hit her that Sookie was supposed to be getting married in about 5 minutes. This temporarily dislodged her from her current state of distress.

"Um Christopher said he left her over there." She pointed in a vague direction, which Dean miraculously understood what she meant, and he ran off.

Dean was almost mad at Rory for leaving him alone so long. Not only had been hit on by Miss Patty but he also had another interrogation from her lovely grandfather. What could she be possibly doing that he couldn't be with her? She's going to be heading off to D.C. soon she should be spending all the time she has left with him! Exasperated he finally reached the walkway and looked around. She wasn't there! He glanced down the hill and did not want to believe his eyes.

What was Jess doing back? And WHAT was he doing kissing Rory? Anger built up inside him and he ran as fast as he could down he hill.

Rory was too lost inside the kiss to hear any footsteps, but Jess had his ear open, listening for anyone who might be around. He shot his head up when he heard the sound of someone running rapidly towards them. He was on the ground almost as soon as he saw Dean standing in front of him.

Rory let out a scream when she heard Dean's fist make contact with Jess's cheek. She jumped back due to natural reaction. When she saw Dean he looked angrier than he had ever seen him.

"Rory why is he back?" He yelled. She started to get tears in her eyes and before she could answer Dean fell to the ground. Jess was now standing up looking hardly disheveled and Dean was slowly getting up, holding his nose as blood seeped through his hands.

"I came back because it is way too much fun to watch you get jealous and make yourself look like an ass," he said with his trademark sarcasm.

"Rory I knew you liked him, from the start you two have had a little thing going on!" Dean yelled.

"There was no little thing, we were just friends!" She was desperately trying to redeem herself, and was barely holding it together.

"Since when do friends make out where no one can see them?" Dean asked her. She could barely think at this moment, she had screwed up. She was holding back all her emotions for the sole purpose of not ruining her make up. She knelt her head down and whispered something. "What was that Rory? I didn't quite hear you!" Dean had let go of his nose, which did not appear to be broken. Jess merely watched and got madder and madder each time Dean yelled at her. "Rory what did you say?" He yelled.

"I said, they don't," she whimpered.

"Yeah that's what I thought. So if friends don't make out then why were you two doing just that?"

"Because," but she couldn't finish her statement. She hadn't been able to admit it to herself yet, let alone explain it to her boyfriend that was yelling at her why she had decided to kiss Jess Mariano, the resident bad boy.

"Because why Rory?" His voice raised and Jess was hardly holding himself together, the only thing keeping him from punching him in the face again was his want to hear Rory's answer.

Rory knew exactly why they were kissing, she knew exactly why she started it and why she didn't want it to end. Now all she had to do was say it out loud. It was the only fair thing to do for all of them.

"I kissed him because I like him, as more than a friend." She barely got the last part out. Jess's anger faded away and turned into disbelief. Did this amazing girl really like him the way that he liked her?

Dean's hurt was quickly masked with anger, "I knew it Rory. I knew it all along. You kept telling me there was nothing going on, 'oh Dean we're just friends!' Just friends my ass Rory! You know what, why don't I do you two a favor, Rory it's over!" He walked off, and not in the direction of the wedding.

Jess and Rory were standing alone together looking at the ground, neither of them knowing how to respond to her confession, and neither of them knowing how to react about the break up.

"So, um, do you wanna come to the wedding? You know, now that there's kind of an empty seat?" she asked as if nothing had just happened.

"Sure, that sounds good. Do you think anyone will mind?" He decided to go along with her pretending.

"No they'll be alright." She smiled at him and he showed a little smirk.

Rory ran up to Loralei just in time for the wedding, she barely made it. Her mother handed her a bouquet of flowers and simply stated,

"Sherry's pregnant," and Rory replied with,

"Dean and I broke up."


	2. Perfection is a Scary Concept

**Disclaimer: I own nada**

**A/N: oh my gosh! I am sooo surprised by how many reviews I got! thank you all very much and I hope that after this chapter you all will still be reading, and of course reviewing ;) **

Perfection is a Scary Concept

Jess hurried to the wedding and just barely made it. He spotted an empty seat next to Lane where he assumed Dean was supposed to be sitting, and luckily it was an easy-access isle seat. Lane glanced at her watch and looked around then gave a flustered sigh of defeat. She had no idea where Dean had gone. Jess snuck into the seat while she was looking the other way, and when she looked over at him, his presence caused her to jump.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Dean is sitting here!" she attempted a withering stare but couldn't quite accomplish it. Jess smirked causing her to glare to intensify.

"Oh if looks could kill," Jess dryly responded. "I'm here because I think Dean uninvited himself when he broke up with Rory, after starting a fight with me, so she asked me to take his place, quite literally." Lane's jaw dropped in shock, but the only thing she could get out was,

"So that explains the bruise." Jess put a hand over where Dean had punched him and felt a bit of swelling.

"Huh I guess it does." People around them started to notice his presence and murmuring erupted through out the place. Jess rolled his eyes a bit but Lane hadn't noticed,

"Is this your fault? Because Rory and Dean were doing great after you left!" Lane pointed an accusing finger in his direction.

"Really? Now if they were really doing as great as you say, why did Rory ditch school, and even miss her mom's graduation, to come see me in New York?" Lane's jaw dropped once again but she didn't have a chance to respond because the music started playing, announcing that the wedding was about to start.

Jackson walked down first, wearing his extravagant kilt which caused Jess to wonder, _How crazy is this town?_ Then came the wedding party and his heart skipped a beat, as it almost always did when he was anticipating Rory's presence. He looked on and found her. She looked vacant, but he could tell that a million emotions were dying to get out.

Rory looked at her mom who had a similar expression, but she was trying to read any emotions or vibes she might be giving off to see if she was okay. She caught nothing. Then they heard their cue to walk. She felt his gaze on her and she sought out where Dean was supposed to be seated and met his eyes. A smirk adorned his face causing her to release a bright smile that lit up her blue eyes. Lane caught the gleeful expression that hadn't come up on her face since…well actually she hadn't seen her ever use a smile like that. The smile was subtle but said so many things that Lane couldn't comprehend. Instead of trying to figure out what her expression read, she fallowed her gaze, and it met with Jess's knowing smirk.

Lorelai too noticed Rory and Jess's silent exchanging of looks. Why had her daughter and the seemingly perfect Dean broken up? She was not exactly sure why but one thing she was willing to bet money on was that it had something to do with Jess one way or another. Why was Jess at the wedding in the first place? And she definitely took note that Jess was in Dean's place and she wondered if Jess would be taking another position held by Dean that had nothing to do with chairs.

The wedding ended at 1:30. Jess did not wait around after, he did not want to have to deal with questions. He went right back to Luke's after the ceremony had ended. The diner was empty due to the fact that half the town was at the wedding. So when the bell on the door rang Luke was startled and surprised to see Jess walking through the door. Was that a bruise on his face?

"So how has your first day back been?" asked Luke, unsure as to what to say without pissing him off.

"Fine," Jess simply stated.

"Well that's good," his uncle paused to search for the right way to ask him about the bruise without invading his personal life, "Have you gotten into any trouble today?"

"Wow good to know how high your expectations are of me, Uncle Luke," Jess headed towards the stairs but Luke stood in front of his way, "I need to go to the bathroom you're going to give me a bladder infection."

"Look," Luke said sternly, "It's your first day back and you already have a bruise on your face, I get to ask the questions." Jess nodded and looked down, "So are you going to tell me how you got it?" Jess looked back up and swallowed hard before answering,

"Dean punched me." Luke put his hand on his fore head and tried to calm down.

"I thought I told you to leave her alone!" Jess became furious,

"Hey! It is not my fault that she saw me, it is not my fault that she came running up to me, and it is NOT my fault that she kissed me!" Luke was stunned and it took a few seconds to register what his nephew was saying.

"She kissed you?" He asked amazed.

"Yes, and Dean saw us."

"Wow. I can see why he'd want to punch you, I mean _I'd_ want to punch you," Luke stopped and sighed and thought about the havoc he'd already caused, "Did you punch him back?"

"Maybe."

"Oh Jess!"

"Hey he punched me first!"

"You were kissing his girlfriend!"

"No, his girlfriend was kissing me!"

"And you just stood there motionless?"

"Now that would be just rude, and my mom always told me to be polite," Jess smirked.

"Jess! Do you think that made you look good for Rory?"

"Well she told Dean she liked me as more than a friend so I must be looking better than him."

"Wow," Luke was having a hard time taking this all in. Why would the town princess be falling for a bad kid like Jess? But then he started to think how beneficial this would be. Like he had said before, Rory would be really good for Jess. Maybe he would get his life on track. "So are you two an item?" Jess thought for a second,

"I'm not quite sure what we are really."

"Do you want to be?" As soon as he asked it, Luke wanted to take his question back. He knew it was crossing the barrier they both had put up, but he waited for his answer nonetheless.

Jess looked down once again and showed a side Luke saw for the first time that morning, vulnerability. Slowly he began to nod. Luke didn't know how to react to his nephew's show of emotion. He thought hugging him would be awkward, but then again so was just standing there. He reached out an arm and pat Jess on the back and stepped away and let him go up to the apartment.

Just as one door closed, another one opened. Coming through the diner door was a flushed Rory. She looked around for a second and realized he wasn't downstairs. When she went looking for him after the wedding she was disappointed to hear from Lane that he had left as soon as the bride and groom walked down the aisle again. Lane begged for the details of the break up but Rory brushed them off as she ran towards the direction of the diner, not saying anything to anyone when they asked her if she knew why Jess was back. All she wanted to do was talk to him, and she didn't even know about what. She searched the diner for even a clue that he had been in there at all.

"Hey Rory," Rory jumped when the silence was abruptly broken by Luke.

"Hi," she replied weakly. She hadn't even noticed him there.

"How was the wedding?" Luke wasn't sure if he should let on that he knew what happened so he decided to stick to small talk.

"Nice, really nice," she said rushed.

"Nice, that's nice," he was stalling, "Uh… do you want some coffee?"

"Yeah coffee would be great." She knew that Luke was probably thinking about how to tell her that Jess was back, "So Jess is back?" Rory asked rather than stated.

"Yes he is back," Luke was barely containing himself; he just wanted her to ask him where Jess was so the awkwardness would end.

"Well that's good, I guess."

"Depending on who you ask," Luke chuckled and Rory politely laughed along. Okay he was done with the small talk, "He's upstairs you can go talk to him if you want."

Rory eyes lit up but shook her head, "Oh no it's alright. I'll see him later."

Luke sighed heavily, "Yeah I guess that's inevitable." Rory looked down at her cup of coffee and then back at the stairs. She wished that he would just come downstairs so that she wouldn't have to make the first move. As if telepathically, Jess emerged through the curtain and yelled to Luke,

"Hey did you just want to close up right now since I don't think anybody is going to be coming in," motioning to the diner. Then he saw their only customer sitting at the counter.

Even though there were only three people in the diner, to Rory it was less empty than it had been in a few weeks. She smiled at him, and he suppressed his grin to a slight smirk.

"Well I guess even a wedding can't keep a Gilmore from her coffee," He cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Nope I guess not," she said shyly, "I bet even on my own wedding I'll be running here." Rory didn't mean for it to come out that way and she blushed as he smirked even more.

"Jess I'm going to go get some stuff, I'll be back soon, and please actually serve people if anyone comes in," Luke commanded before walking out the door.

"Yes sir," Jess called back after the door was already shut.

After Luke left, there was silence, silence and tension. Tension you could cut with a fork. It was a bit unnerving to Rory and a bit annoying to Jess, but neither of them wanted to even begin dissecting how their relationship had changed. Rory decided that if she was ever going to get things solved she had to speak up,

"Jess, what is going to happen to us now?" She looked down into her half-full coffee cup.

"There's an us?" He questioned.

"I… don't know, is there?"

"Do you think there should be?"

"I don't know." Jess sighed.

"What do you want Rory?" Rory was about to answer before she got suddenly flustered,

"What about you huh? You keep asking about my opinion, how about _your_ opinion? What do _you_ want Kurt?" Jess smiled a bit at the reference.

"I already know what I want, you're the one that still needs to figure things out." But she _knew_ what she wanted, and she wanted it badly, desperately. But she couldn't shake the image of disapproval she knew she would get if she did what she want, "Stop thinking about what everyone else wants Rory," he had read her mind. She hated it when he knew her so well and yet so much of him was a mystery to her. "So Courtney how about you?" Jess tried to lighten up the mood by playing along with her reference just as he had the night of the car crash.

"Jess, I'm going to Washington D.C. in a few days for this leadership council thing-"

"For how long?" he cut her off.

"Six weeks," she confirmed. He nodded, telling her to go on.

"And in those six weeks I think we need to think about what we want and if it's what we think is best for us." Rory didn't really want to spend six weeks dwelling about making up her mind on something she was pretty much set on. It would be like taking time to decide if she _really_ wanted to go to Harvard.

"Okay," he agreed like it wouldn't be killing him to have no guarantees. In reality he was in an extreme state of disappointment. He didn't know what he was expecting, like the town princess would fall to his feet the moment he came back. He knew it was corny, and yes very cocky, but also very similar to what he believed would happen.

"Okay so we'll think about it?" She asked confirming. He simply nodded. "Well I guess I need to get back to the wedding. I don't want to worry my mom," Jess just nodded again.

She didn't know what possessed her to do it, perhaps it was his confident expression, like he _knew_ what her decision would be. Or maybe it was the way he was just standing there so unfazed, maybe she just wanted a reaction from him. Rory Gilmore would never quite know what influenced her to lean across the counter and place a soft kiss on Jess Mariano. All she cared about was that it was perfect, and perfect was a scary concept. She had to end the perfection before it had ran its course and died out, she wanted to end on a high note. Once again Jess reacted completely unsurprised. It was as if he was reading her like a book.

In fact, this was all a front for Jess to hide behind. He had no idea what her final decision would be. When she kissed him his surprise was hard to control.

"See you," she said before racing out the diner. Jess smirked and watched her.

Yep these six weeks were going to suck.


	3. I Confess

**A/N I am soooo sorry that it took me so long to update. I had no idea what i was going to do with this chapter so it took me a lot longer than what I had originally anticipated. This chapter isn't great but it's a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I didn't get very many reviews for the last chapter and that made me sad :( so please please please review! I don't mean to sound desperate, but I plan to be a writer one day so it really helps to know if I'm doing a good job or not. And it's true, reviews do help me write faster :)**

**disclaimer: I own nothing, if I did Rory would have never slept with Dean and would not be "in love" with Logan right now. **

I confess

Rory ran out of the diner smiling all the way back home. She ran into her room and crashed on her bed staring at the ceiling. _I should probably get back to the wedding_ she thought. But something was keeping her from going back. She just wanted to lie there reliving the high points of the day, seeing Jess, hearing that Jess had moved back, kissing Jess, and kissing Jess again. The last two points were the events playing over and over. How could this feel so right? She sighed as she closed her eyes and thought about how the six weeks without him were going to feel like an enternity. She was leaving the day after tomorrow and tomorrow would be spent packing, leaving almost no possibility of seeing Jess again before she left. She sighed again and fell asleep on top of the covers in her bridesmaid dress.

She woke up and saw her mom sitting at the edge of her bed bearing a concerned smile. Loralei patted Rory's back and proceeded to rub it.

"What time is it?" Rory groggily asked.

"About 9," her mom replied. Rory stretched her arms above her head and sat up. "So," Loralei started, looking down then back up at her daughter, "Do you want to tell me how Jess ruined your relationship with Dean?" Rory scoffed and went crashing back down onto her pillow,

"It wasn't Jess's fault, why do you always have to assume that it was _his_ fault?"

"Because it always is," she said simply. Rory sat back up and glared at her mother,

"Well _this_ time it _isn't!"_ she said sharply, "_I_ saw Jess, _I_ ran up to him, then _I _talked to him, then _I_ kissed him!" Lorelai's face dropped, as did her jaw,

"You _kissed_ him!" Lorelai raised her voice.

"Yes Ikissed him!" Rory restated herself.

"I'm sorry, I'm not quite getting this, you kissed _Jess?_"

"Yes! I Rory Gilmore kissed Jess Mariano! I could probably say it in a few other languages if it would help clear things up!" Rory was now yelling, not knowing what was coming over her. Why was she defending her actions? She knew it was wrong.

"Rory, the only thing that is going to clear this up for mommy is a psychological exam of you." Rory rolled her eyes and calmly replied,

"I know it wasn't right, and I'm not proud of it."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Because," she paused trying to find the guts to admit this to her mom. She was finding it harder to tell her than it was to say it in front of Jess. She finally took a deep breath and finished her statement, "I like him, as more than a friend."

"Well I guess I saw this coming, so I don't know why I'm so surprised," Lorelai irritably remarked.

"Are you upset?" Rory pouted.

"Well I can't say I'm thrilled with the person you've chosen to have feelings for, or that I agree with the way you dealt with the situation." Lorelai let out a heavy side.

"You know that us women can't help who we fall for, mom." Rory said, hitting a sore spot for Lorelai.

"No, I guess you can't."

"And even I don't agree with how I handled the situation," Rory empathized.

"Well anyway, how does this lead to the big break up?"

"Well Dean saw us, punched Jess, asked me why I was kissing Jess and I told him that I liked Jess," Lorelai's face frowned when she thought about how that must have hurt Dean, "and needless to say he broke up with me," Rory said the last part almost sadly.

"So what does this mean for you and Jess?" Lorelai asked.

"I don't know, I told him that we'll think about it while I'm gone." Lorelai nodded in agreement,

"Yeah I think that is a good idea," she hugged her distraught daughter and Rory glady welcomed the affection. Lorelai pulled back and excitedly exclaimed, "You're going to be gone for 6 weeks. Do you know what this requires?"

"Shopping!" Rory replied.

"You betcha! So get out of that bridesmaids dress and into something normal and we'll hit Luke's-or will we hit Luke's?" Lorelai wasn't sure if her daughter would be up for the possibility of seeing Jess. Rory paused and thought,

"Yes we'll definitely hit Luke's! Wait did you two make up last night?" Rory asked eagerly. Lorelai beamed and nodded.

"Yay! Then we will _have_ to go to Luke's!" A part of her hoped that they would run into Jess.

"Yes! By the way I'm Mimi now."

"Oh sure." Rory just nodded and agreed.

When they walked into Luke's Lorelai yelled, "Coffee! Fast! Shopping trip is underway!"

Luke walked out from the kitchen and picked up the coffee pot while dryly murmuring,

"Yelling like an idiot does not get you service any faster."

"Oh but I beg to differ!" Lorelai retorted. Yep things were back to normal. Rory was looking around for a certain sarcastic diner boy. Luke caught on and mentioned,

"He's on a break, I don't know when he'll be back." Rory blushed.

"Who?" She asked innocently.

"Never mind," Luke brushed it off realizing he had embarrassed her.

The Gilmore girls ordered and ate their breakfast and left before Jess ever came in. Lorelai couldn't help but think that was for the better. They spent their day in Hartford going to various places where Lorelai bought both of them things that they knew they would never need, but regardless it was a fun experience. That night they spent about an hour packing everything Rory would need and much, much more. As Lorelai kept adding random items "just in case," Rory deciding to suppress a comment comparing her and Emily.

That night Rory couldn't sleep. She felt a pang and she didn't know where it was coming from. Could she possibly be missing Jess already? Another pang. Every time her thoughts happened to stumble on the topic of Jess she felt a pang. These six weeks without him were going to be extremely difficult. When she got back she was sure that she would want him more than ever, or maybe the distance would help her come to her senses. Jess wasn't a knight in shining armor to say the least, so why did she want him? He was so unpredictable, and she had never been a fan of unpredictability.

Rory was up at 6 'o clock sharp. She was dressed in a little over 15 minutes and by the time she was ready her mother was still in bed. She yelled for her multiple times and a heavy grunt was the extent of her response. Rory ran upstairs in a huff and burst into her room,

"Mom! My plane leaves in 3 hours and I have to go through all the security and crap, so you need to get up!" Lorelai rolled over and glared at her daughter and sighed.

"If I get up and get dressed in a half an hour will we have time to go to Luke's?" She begged.

Rory shook her head, "No because you are getting up way to late, but if you want I'll run over there and get us 2 coffees to go," Lorelai pouted before Rory added, "each!"

"That's my girl!" Rory ran downstairs into her room and grabbed her money. She then ran to the door and as she opened it she saw a boy sitting on her porch, a boy with familiar brown, floppy hair.

"Dean what are you doing here?" She sighed loudly before continuing on to her porch. Dean was close to the last person she wanted to see, the last person being Paris whom she would have to see later on. Dean stood up to his full height, very high above Rory, and looked down at her apologetically. He had a bandage over his purple, swollen nose. "Jess got you pretty good huh?"

"Yeah I guess he did," he answered bitterly.

"Well you never answered my question Dean. What are you doing here?"

"I want to say sorry," he answered finally.

"Okay, bye then." Rory pushed past him and headed towards Luke's.

"Wait Rory, I'm not done." Rory whipped around and stood where she was with her arms crossed and a withering stare fixed on him.

"Dean, I have to go. I don't know if you ever listen to me but if you did you would have probably caught the fact that I'm leaving for Washington D.C. in," she looked down at her watch, "2 and a half hours."

"I know you are, that's why I'm here. I wanted to talk to you before you left," Dean walked off the porch and down to where Rory was currently standing, "I just have to know, do you really like Jess?" Rory was taken aback by the question.

"Yes," she said confidently. Dean's sad expression got even sadder.

"How long?" he asked quietly.

"What?" she asked confusedly.

"I asked, how long have you liked him?" He demanded. Rory suddenly was scared. She was scared of hurting him. She was scared of trying to find the answer. She searched inside herself to find the exact moment that she realized that she had feelings for Jess.

"I," she started and sighed, "I realized that I had some feelings for him the day of the picnic, but I couldn't admit it to myself until the day I tutored him."

"The day of the car crash?" Dean confirmed, making Rory feel smaller than she already was.

"Yeah. The day of the car crash." Rory said quietly. She looked up to see his reaction and was not surprised when she saw it. Anger was etched deep into his face and it had every right to be there.

"Rory, if you knew you liked him, why didn't you leave me? Why did you string me along that whole time, making me believe that I was the only one on your mind? I mean, sure I had an idea that you liked him but I didn't know that you had also realized those feelings!" Dean was yelling and it scared her. She had always been very intimidated by him.

"Because I wanted to love _you!"_ she yelled. "You're perfect!"

"If I'm so 'perfect' then why don't you love me?"

"I guess I don't like perfect," she whimpered before running off in the direction of Luke's.

When she stood in front of the door she realized that it wasn't open but someone was downstairs. It was Jess, setting up for the day to begin. She shyly knocked on the door hoping he'd let her in. He looked up from the counter he was wiping down and saw a broken looking Rory. His heart hurt when he saw her looking so fragile. He walked to the door and let her in. She immediately crashed into his arms and held him tight. He returned the gesture by wrapping his arms over her.

"I hurt him, I hurt him so much," she finally said into his chest, the warmth of her breath going through his chest and resting on his heart. She lifted her head up and said to his face, "He's right, I knew that I liked you. I've liked you for so long, but I didn't end it with him, which wasn't fair to him, or for you!" She confessed in a rush. Jess couldn't help but feel rejoiced as she confessed her feelings for him once again. Instead of saying anything Jess kissed her forehead and laid her head back down on his chest where she felt safe.

"And what event caused this realization?" he eventually asked.

"Dean came to my house, he asked me how long I've liked you."

"How long have you liked me?" he asked with much curiosity.

"Since the day of the picnic." She said honestly. He smirked at her.

"Huh," was all he had to say, "Did you want coffee?" He asked.

"Yes, 4 to-go." Jess was not surprised by the large order and turned around to go make them. Rory shook her head at how fast Jess changed the conversation.

"So you're going to Washington for 6 weeks," Jess stated rather than asked.

"Yep, I'm going to be rooming with none other than Paris."

"Oh wow. I'm sorry," Jess laughed a bit under his breath. He poured the coffee in the 4 cups and Rory got out her money. "It's on the house." He shooed away her money.

"Such great service here!" Rory beamed. Lorelai's Jeep pulled up in front of the diner and beeped. "Well I guess I gotta go, thanks for the coffee." He handed her the coffee and laid a soft kiss on her lips as she grabbed it.

"Have fun," he whispered. She was smiling broadly and she walked out of the diner. Turning around once more right before exiting she waved at him and danced out the doorway. He shook his head in disbelief that a girl like her could ever like a guy like him.


	4. Stuff Just Pours Out

Rory wanted nothing more than to be around Jess as she was lying in bed staring at the ceiling of a room that was not her own. She had just gotten off the phone with her mom, who had just had a dream about Luke and her having twins. Rory knew that her mom and Luke were supposed to be together, how long would it take them to figure it out? A feeling of hypocrisy made her twitch slightly. She knew that she had been in a similar position. It was apparent to everyone that Jess and Rory had feelings for each other but neither of them acted on it.

The blurry red light from the clock read 4:32 and Rory sighed and knew she wouldn't be able to sleep before she had to be up at 5:30. She eyed the phone that she had just been on not too long ago. A moment of spontaneity later she had the number dialed and the receiver in her hand playing a dial tone.

"What?" She heard Jess's tired voice answer flustered.

"Hi, it's me," Rory grinned at the sound of his voice.

"Oh, hey," his voice significantly perked up.

"How are you?" she asked shyly.

"It's-"

"4:34, I know early," she laughed, "sorry!"

"No-don't be I'm glad you called." That sentence reminded her of a similar unplanned phone call she had made to him.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah," There was a small silence that was nothing but comfortable.

"I-" she tried to get it out but couldn't quite let her guard down.

"You?" he asked sarcastically. She inhaled and exhaled loudly.

"I miss you," rushed out of her mouth and was barely coherent but it made Jess smile. He couldn't remember the last time he had smiled that early in the morning.

"I miss you too," he confessed. Rory's confidence was restored and she lied back down and sighed loudly.

"I'm coming back in 4 days," she gushed.

"Wow that soon," pretending like he hadn't counted down.

"Yep, very soon. I can't wait to see everyone. How's the town?" Their conversation was returning back to normal.

"Well the snow cone machine broke down and Taylor was freaking out." She giggled and replied,

"That sounds like Taylor. You wouldn't have happened to know how it broke?" She implied sheepishly.

"Are you suggesting that an innocent boy like myself would have had anything to do with a broken snow cone machine?" He sounded mockingly appalled.

"Yes!" She stated frankly.

"Huh," was his only reply, "Well not that I don't enjoy these accusations, but seeing that it is _very _early, I believe that I will be going back to sleep."

"Okay," she said rather disappointed, "I'll see you in four days."

"Four days." He hung up. Rory put down the phone and drifted off into the soundest sleep she'd had in weeks.


	5. Details, Details!

There was a sticky spot on the counter that never came off no matter how many times Jess rubbed over it. It looked like it was caused with some sort of jam. _Probably from a little kid with jam-hands_, he thought annoyed. Intensely he scrubbed back and forth, taking any frustration he had at that current moment on the counter. His frustration consisted mostly of the fact that the four days were going by very slowly. Another frustration was that he could not fall back asleep after Rory's impromptu phone call at 4:30 in the morning. His mind stumbled upon the conversation they had. "_I miss you," _the words played back in his head and his scrubbing became a little lighter. _She_ had missed him. He smirked to himself. According to her, he was worth missing. He had almost stopped scrubbing altogether. He became very concentrated on the past few conversations he'd had with Rory all while still scrubbing the same spot, until the bell on the door demanded his attention. The incoming customer just had to be Dean Forrester. His scrubbing became vicious and sporadic. Jess felt Dean's tall figure standing over him, casting a shadow over the counter. Dean cleared his throat and politely said,

"Excuse me waitress can I please tell you my order?" He had a sly grin on his face that Jess wanted to wipe off with his fist.

"Well judging your intelligence in past experiences, I really don't think you can," Jess toyed with the fact that Dean had used "can I" instead of "may I." Dean's face immediately became a harsh glare.

"Okay that's enough out of you, smart-ass," Dean retorted, only to fuel Jess's enjoyment.

"Such a demanding customer!" Jess claimed.

"It's what crappy service should expect!"

"Ow, that hurt, because you know that my dream was to be good at this job!" Jess's words dripped with sarcasm.

"Well you better start improving, because judging by your school performance you aren't going far. How will Rory like you then?" Jess's first instinct was to punch him, but he backed off for Rory's sake.

"Out. Now." Jess angrily demanded.

"You can't kick me out!" Dean yelled.

"Actually, yes I can," Jess spat, "Luke's number one policy is the ability to kick anyone out at anytime, right next to no cell phones!" Dean's glare intensified,

"This order isn't even for me! It's for Taylor!"

"Oh how cute, Taylor has a little servant! Is there a costume involved? 'Cause I'd pay to see that," Jess's smirk always struck a chord with Dean.

"My advise to you is to shut your mouth right now!" Dean's height seemed to increase somehow.

"You know what, if Taylor wants his food so damn bad, send him instead!"

"I don't know if that's a good idea since you're not exactly Taylor's favorite person right now since you broke the snow cone machine!" Jess rolled his eyes,

"Why does everyone always assume that it's my fault?" Jess continued, "Just like how it was my fault that Rory missed her mom's graduation, like I forced her to go to New York and spend the day with me!" After Jess came back from New York the story of how Rory came and visited him spread like wild fire, almost as fast as the story of Dean catching Rory and Jess kissing at Sookie's wedding.

"And it's also supposedly my fault," Jess went on, "that Rory fell for me instead of you!" Dean's fist reared back to punch Jess but it was caught midair by Luke who had just walked in the diner.

"Out now!" Luke yelled. Dean yanked his fist out of Luke's grasp and turned towards the door. Jess waved with a smile and called out,

"Come back soon!" Dean shook his head with fury before slamming the door.

GGGGGGGGGGG

The phone rang loudly at the "Crap Shack." Lorelai looked at her watch, it was 10:30 at night and she wondered who would be calling. Rory! She remembered. She ran downstairs but the answering machine had already turned it on.

"Hello? Hello? I can't hear you? Just kidding! Leave a message after the beep!" She heard her voice turn on. She giggled to herself and remembered how hard Rory and her had laughed while recording that. There was a beep, and Rory's voice came on,

"You know, that is actually really annoying. Mom pick up! I know you're home!" Lorelai picked up the phone,

"Hello my lovely daughter!"

"Hello my adorable mother!" They laughed.

"What's up?" Lorelai asked.

"Nothing much, just wondering if anything interesting happened today."

"As a matter of fact, your current boyfriend-"

"He's not my boyfriend _yet!_" Rory reminded her.

"Details, details! About that, have you made your decision?"

"I'm pretty sure I have," Rory was vague.

"And what would that decision happen to be?" Lorelai asked, trying to get more information from her offspring.

"Anyway what did Jess do today?" Rory was obviously avoiding the topic.

"I see how you are! Trying to hide information! But you don't really have to tell me, I'll just hang up on you leaving you to wonder what Jess did today," Lorelai knew that two could play that game.

"Fine! You meanie!" Rory sighed as Lorelai laughed triumphantly, "I am pretty sure that I want to be with him."

"I knew it! Rory is in love! She wants to make out with Jess under the moonlight and share a milkshake with him!"

"Okay, okay! Are we four? What did Jess do today?" She begged.

"Well," Lorelai started, "rumor is, I wasn't there but have many reliable sources, that Dean came into the diner today,"

"Oh no!"

"Oh yes! Anyway, Dean apparently picked a fight with Jess,"

"Oh no no no no! Was anyone hurt?" Rory whimpered.

"Don't worry, it was completely verbal."

"Okay good," Rory sighed with relief.

"_Anyway,_ then Jess proceeded to verbally kick Dean's ass,"

"Not surprising,"

"No not really, Dean can be a nice guy, but his wit is nothing next to Jess's,"

"Are you complementing Jess?" Rory laughed.

"No!" Lorelai back-pedaled, "I'm just saying that he is good at insulting at people. I never said that was a good thing!"

"Mom is this how it's going to be?"

"What do you mean?" She asked innocently.

"Are you just going to hate him for the sake of hating him?"

"No! I don't hate him!"

"Yeah right!" Rory retorted.

"I don't! I just find throwing fiery darts at his picture an amusing past time!" Rory sighed loudly.

"Do you know how much easier my life would be if you two got along? Really, if you could just put the past in the past then I'd think you'd really grow to like him! He'd probably insult movies a lot better than Dean."

"I guess, I could work on it." Lorelai gave in.

"You could?" Rory gushed.

"Yes!" Lorelai sighed loudly but Rory ignored it.

"Okay well it's getting late so I'm gonna go to sleep."

"Okay, goodnight sweets! See you in 3 days."

"Night love you mom!"

"Love you too." Lorelai hung up the phone and sighed. Her get along with Jess? What kind of miracle was she going to have to work?


	6. So you won't mind if I kiss you now

The next morning, just like any other, Lorelai went to Luke's for some much-needed coffee, but she was on a mission. Praying that Jess wasn't on one of his frequent breaks, she walked through the diner door. She saw him leaning over the counter gazing into a book, a familiar pose to find him in.

"Hey Jess," she greeted him, interrupting his reading, "Do you have a minute?" She asked. He finally looked up from his book which he folded one of the pages and slipped it into his back pocket.

"Yeah I suppose I can spare a few moments." He fallowed her to one of the few vacant tables in the diner. Jess was honestly scared shitless of what this was going to lead to. They both sat down and Lorelai started with a heavy sigh.

"I talked to Rory last night," Jess replied with his usual,

"Huh."

"I know that you and Rory are together so-"

"Not yet, technically," Jess cut her off. Lorelai laughed at his reaction that was similar to the one that Rory had the night before.

"Well I think it's safe to say that the moment she gets back the technicalities will be sorted out," she waited for a sarcastic response but none came. She went on, "So I know that you and I don't have a very positive list of past experiences, but I think we should try to get along to make this easier for Rory." Jess rolled his eyes,

"I really never had a problem with you in the first place. I admit I was a jerk to you that first day but honestly I was a jerk to everyone."

"Except Rory," Lorelai finished his statement.

"Except Rory," he confirmed quietly while not meeting her eyes. "I'm sorry about the car crash, I didn't mean for it to happen." Another sigh came from Lorelai's end of the table.

"Yes, that was an event," she searched for the right words, "I know you didn't. You have to understand though, my baby, my sole offspring, my life was hurt and as a mother I freaked out. Due to the freak out, I had to blame anyone but Rory, which happened to be you, and since you didn't have such a great track record it was a little too easy."

"I understand. I really do care about Rory." he said quietly, still not meeting her eyes. This whole situation was extremely uncomfortable. She couldn't help but feel a little bit of sympathy for him, which made her cringe. His persona exemplified this total jerk but really he was just a kid with a lot of issues.

"I know you do," Lorelai broke the silence. She paused a bit, "You know, you aren't as bad as I thought. Maybe I could end up getting along with you." That was extremely hard for the proud Lorelai Victoria Gilmore to admit.

"I'll never be like Dean," he admitted. Lorelai looked down and then back up again at his face.

"I don't want you to be like Dean," she confessed. Jess cocked an eyebrow,

"Really?" he asked a tad sarcastically.

"Really," she repeated.

"Why is that?" he asked dryly.

"Because, Rory got bored too easily with him, but she stayed with him even though she didn't love him. And she hurt him. She hurt him really badly. She told him 'I love you' even though she didn't mean it. She got distracted from him. I think it will be different with you."

"Distracted?" He asked, partially ignoring the confidence that Lorelai's comment built up.

"By you. If she had really love him like she said she did, she wouldn't have become so interested in you." He started to smirk. She glanced down at her watch, "Well I guess it's time for me to go to work."

"Did you want coffee?" Jess asked as he got up out of his chair.

"Do you really have to ask that?" Lorelai questioned.

"You're right, stupid question." He chuckled. He went behind the counter and filled up a to-go cup.

"Well this chat has been lovely," Lorelai smiled as she took her coffee cup.

"Why yes it has, thank you for you company Miss Gilmore." Jess replied sarcastically.

"Keep that attitude up and I'll be forced to take you to Friday night dinner!" Lorelai threatened.

"Okay I'm done," he back-pedaled.

"That's what I thought." She walked out of the diner feeling accomplished.

GGGGGGGGGGG

Rory watched as the plane landed. The excited feeling in her stomach grew every passing moment, and by now the butterflies were moving so fast it hurt. She was so happy to be going home to see her mom, the town, Luke's coffee, and of course, _him. _

When she saw her mom she ran and squealed. She had missed her _so_ much. They somehow landed on the floor, which caused them to laugh harder. After a few minutes of random conversation and gift exchanging, Lorelai dropped some news.

"I got you out of Friday nigh dinner!" She exclaimed.

"What? How?" Rory asked confused.

"I figured that you would want time to spend with Jess!" She grinned.

"What did you tell them?" Rory asked excitedly. Her heart pounded at the sound of his name.

"That you weren't coming home until Saturday!" Lorelai's grin became devious.

"Big fat lie!" Rory giggled. They stood up and continued their conversation as they headed out of the airport.

GGGGGGGGGGGG

The Gilmores were pulling into their beloved Stars Hallow. Rory was beaming because of this homecoming.

"Wanna return with a bang?" Lorelai asked sheepishly?

"What are you suggesting?" Rory asked. Lorelai turned on the CD player full blast and rolled down the window. XTC's "I'm Man Who Murdered Love" blared out of the car. Rory laughed with delight as townspeople on the street looked at their car.

"People are going to think we're crazy!" Rory noted, but wasn't really complaining.

"We're in a town that's having a festival called 'End of Summer Madness.' Do they really have a right to judge _us?_"

"Good point." Rory looked out the window and saw a figure with dark hair sitting on a bench, reading. "Stop the car!" Rory yelled out. Lorelai's screeched to a sudden halt and before she could ask her daughter why, Rory jumped out.

Jess was staring at the pages aimlessly. It was practically impossible for him to focus on the book in his hands, or on anything really. Luke had actually _forced_ him to take a break because he kept on getting all the orders wrong. Jess tapped his foot impatiently and glanced at his watch. It read 4:30. She should be coming home by now, he thought.

Out of nowhere he heard an XTC song playing (it had now switched to "We're All Light"). When He glanced up his eyes met up with a familiar face. Rory was standing over him smiling ear-to-ear. He put his book down and greeted her calmly,

"Well long time no see," his insides were jumping as he tried to control himself from jumping on her.

"Yeah I know," she said sitting down. Jess subconsciously wrapped his arm around her.

"So how was DC?" He asked.

"Alright. How has Stars Hallow been?" She played along with the small talk.

"Kinda boring, more boring than usual." He gazed at her.

_So you won't mind if I kiss you now, we may hear the Angels recite. _

Jess leaned in and closed the small gap and placed a soft kiss on Rory's lips. She smiled into his kiss and replied warmly. She placed a hand on his cheek and caressed it softly. He smirked a bit and returned the gesture.

Lorelai watched as the two engaged in truly sickening romance and couldn't help but smile and be moved by their cuteness. After she had finally had enough she honked her car horn. The two lovebirds quickly separated and their lips were already missing each other.

"Are you going to the festival?" Rory asked.

"I might make an appearance at some point," he replied coolly.

"Good." She got up and ran into the car, slamming the door shut. She was beaming more than ever.

"I think I like him," she said innocently.

"I couldn't tell," Lorelai laughed.

**A/N: Sorry for taking a while to get this one up! I wanted to make their reunion as good as possible. The next chapter might be the last one and then I'd do an epilogue, but I'm not sure. Let me know if you guys think this should be long or if I should keep it short. Thanks :)**


	7. Girl Inform Me

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gilmore Girls, or Ramones lyrics

Rory and Lorelai drove home and Rory went crazy looking for an outfit. She finally settled on a burgundy dress that Lorelai thought was too dressy, not that Rory really cared at this point. On their way to the festival they made a stop at the unusually loud home of Jackson and Sookie. They looked into the door and realized that Sookie had completely transformed their living room, and Jackson wasn't too happy about that. The fight was becoming louder and louder by the second so the two girls decided that they would stop by later.

When they finally got to the festival they were listening to the band repeat the same two or four lines over and over and watched how excited Taylor was. While Lorelai was casually insulting him, Rory's eyes drifted elsewhere. She was searching for him Jess and hoping that he really had come like he said he would.

"What are you looking for?" Lorelai asked, bringing Rory out of her daze.

"What?" Rory asked confused, "Oh nothing."

"Sure! You're looking for Jess aren't you?" Lorelai whispered.

"No!" Rory said dumbly, "Well, maybe. Yeah I am," she reluctantly gave in, not wanting to sound like a lame girl who can't go ten minutes without seeing her boyfriend, well _almost_ boyfriend. Lorelai snickered at her daughter playfully.

"He's over there!" Lorelai pointed at a tree. Rory's eyes lit up as she saw him leaning on a tree reading, of course.

"How is it that you found him before I did?" Rory asked.

"I don't know," Lorelai mumbled. Rory stared at him, not moving, "Go get him!" her mother encouraged. And with a bright smile, Rory was off.

Jess leaned himself on a tree that was holding him still. He couldn't help replaying the kiss that happened earlier in his head. Once again, he couldn't focus on what he was reading. Part of it was his thoughts of Rory, but it was also because of that "swanky" band from New York singing the same thing over and over it was enough to drive him madder than this town had already managed to make him. He was baffled how one girl can convince him to join in multiple insane events this town held.

"So can we talk, or is the book too interesting?" He heard Rory's voice announce unexpectedly. He glanced up and closed his book, not bothering to mark his page because he'd have to re-read it anyway.

"Talk." He replied. He just realized how beautiful she looked in her dress.

"Well," she started. Jess put his hands lightly on her waist and pulled her closer. She continued distractedly, "over these past 6 weeks while I've been gone, I've done a lot of thinking about our situation. Have you?"

"Oh yes, tons!" He answered sarcastically. Rolling her eyes at him, Rory went on.

"Well I have managed to come to a decision, and yourself?"

"Yeah, a conclusion crossed my mind."

"Well what's yours?" she asked playfully.

"What's yours?" he retorted with a smirk.

"I asked you first," she whined

"That's not fair!" he complained. Neither of them wanted to share their feelings in fear of rejection. Jess was more than ready to put up a fight, but then she started pouting, why oh why did she have to pout. He sighed heavily and bared his emotions, a rare thing, "I think we should be together."

"You want to be my boyfriend?" She sang to the tune of "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend."

"Well if we're quoting Ramones lyrics, what do you say?" He stared into her blue eyes that were especially sparkly, waiting for her answer.

"Listen to my heart," she said, continuing the quoting Ramones lyrics.

"I don't care," he teased. She smacked him playfully.

"You're mean!"

"I don't think that's a Ramones song," he smirked.

"No, I'm all out," she giggled, and that made Jess's insides do a little jump for joy.

"So," he said seriously, "what do you think?" Rory took her hand and pushed a hair out of his face, which sent chills through his body.

"I think it's a great idea," she pulled his face to hers and kissed him deeply.

A/N: Once again, sorry it took so long. Thank you all sooo much for the reviews! I got a lot. Well due to popular request, I'm going to elongate this story. I have a lot of ideas so hopefully it will turn out well.


	8. And I'm Head Over Heels

Rory and Jess were walking hand in hand around the Summer Madness Festival. They were throwing around insults about the insanity and lameness surrounding the town. They both felt genuinely happy, like they were on a limerant high.

"So, your mom is over there, do you want to say hi before she leaves for Friday night dinner?" Jess gestured over towards Luke's where Lorelai was seen at the counter exchanging friendly banter with Luke. Rory was surprised that Jess would voluntarily suggest interacting with her mother.

"Since when do you want to associate with my mom?" Her puzzlement was showing, "Don't you guys have a silent agreement to avoid contact at all costs?" Jess smirked at his girlfriend's inquisitiveness.

"Well actually, her and I had a talk."

"A talk? As in exchanging somewhat friendly dialogue?" Rory inquired.

"Yeah, I think we even smiled at each other," Jess replied fictitiously. Rory rolled her eyes.

"What was it about?"

"Well we made a vocal agreement to be nice to each other for your behalf."

"Wow, I wonder why she didn't tell me!"

"Relax, it wasn't a big deal," Jess wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her head.

"My boyfriend deciding to be nice to _anyone_ is a huge deal!" Rory and Jess both loved how the word "boyfriend" sounded in reference to him.

"Ha, very funny!"

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Jess and Rory walked into the practically deserted diner, except for Lorelai and Luke sitting at the counter. Jess held the door open for Rory and she took full advantage of the situation,

"Aw my boyfriend is such a gentleman, he holds the door open for me!" Jess rolled his eyes as Lorelai and Luke looked over at the happy couple.

"Yep, you got yourself a keeper!" Lorelai's mocking voice cooed through the air. The two sat down next to Lorelai at the counter and Rory placed her order. Jess began to order but was cut off by Luke handing him a coffee pot."

"Fill their mugs!" Luke walked into the kitchen to start making Rory and Lorelai's order. Jess looked utterly appalled.

"Even on my day off I have to work!" Jess reluctantly filled the Gilmore's mugs.

"Wow the service here sure sucks!" Lorelai snapped.

"I know!" Rory chimed in, "I here the youngest one really smells," whispered Rory into her mother's ear, but loud enough for Jess to hear.

"No that would be the proprietor you're thinking about," Jess's sarcasm sent the two girls into childish giggles as Luke walked out with their food.

"Did I miss something?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, you're monthly shower." Jess deadpanned, causing the girls to laugh again, "Wow I'm a big hit tonight." Suddenly Lorelai had a great idea.

"Hey! Luke, Jess are you guys doing something tomorrow?"

"No I don't think so," Luke answered, "Jess you don't have anything going on do you?"

"Of course Uncle Luke! I thought that you and I would have a thrilling night of bonding, watch 'Steel Magnolias,' over-analyze Alanis Morrisette lyrics, facials, the whole bit!"

"Please don't joke like that," Luke replied, with a very scared expression adorning his face.

"So I'll take that as a no," Lorelai continued, "How about the four of us get together tomorrow night and have a movie night!"

"That's a great idea!" Rory squealed excitedly. She was so excited that her mom was so willing to give Jess a second chance.

"Should I be scared?" Jess asked Luke, who simply nodded in disbelief.

"Didn't you guys used to do that with Dean all the time?" Luke asked, not meaning to make his nephew uncomfortable, which he so clearly had. Jess shifted uncomfortably so Rory took that as her cue.

"Yeah but we've been doing this for years!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, I think the first time we did it was when Rory was still in diapers," Lorelai joined in.

"Plus Dean was never very good at making fun of the movies," Rory added. She smiled at Jess, hoping that he got the message that he was much more wanted than Dean. He got it loud and cleared, so he smirked right back at her, and that was as close to a smile that Jess got.

"Sure that sounds like fun," Jess answered, then looked at Luke for approval.

"Okay I'm in." Luke gave in.

"Yay! This is going to be so exciting!" Lorelai beamed.

"What movies are we going to watch?" Rory asked with liveliness.

"We'll have to pick them out tonight," Lorelai looked at her watch, "but right now it's time for me to change for Friday night dinner." Lorelai gave Rory a kiss on the cheek and got up, "I'll see you tonight. Bye Jess, bye Luke!" Lorelai exited the diner and shortly after Luke left to go run a vaguely announced errand of some sort. That left Rory and Jess alone in the diner.

"So," Jess awkwardly started, "do you wanna," He gestured upstairs, but Rory gave him a blank stare of confusion so he had to spell it out uncomfortably, "go upstairs?"

"Oh!" Rory realized and suddenly felt very dumb, "Sure." The two climbed the stairs with apprehension. Rory was unsure of what was going to happen when she was upstairs, alone, with Jess. _Jess_. She didn't like admitting that she felt a lot safer with Dean. Maybe that was because he _was_ safe. He was the Webster's Dictionary description of safe and predictable.

_And he was also the Rory Gilmore's Dictionary's description of boring, _she thought to herself. They had finally reached the door, and like the gentleman he was Jess held the door open for her.

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG 

"Lorelai!" Luke called out. He had run out of the diner hoping he would catch her. Lorelai whipped her head around and smiled curiously at Luke who seemed to be out of breath.

"Luke?" She walked up to him and waited for his breathing to calm down.

"Hi!" He greeted her.

"Hi," Lorelai replied questionably.

"I just wanted to thank you," Luke said sincerely.

"For what?" Lorelai cocked her head. What did he have to thank her for?

"For giving Jess a chance, I mean I know he's never been your favorite person, but I just wanted to say that it means a lot to him-and to me," Lorelai was so touched by his devotion to Jess, it was quite obvious that the two of them cared about each other a lot more than they bothered to show.

"No problem, you and Rory were right. He's not such a bad kid after all," she smiled because she knew it was true.

"Nah, he's just got some issues to work out," he paused dramatically, "So tonight's the night you're telling your parents about Christopher?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yep, tonight's the big night!" She said sarcastically. Lorelai sighed to herself nervously. She really didn't want to have do this, but she knew it would have to come out eventually.

"Well good luck," Luke patted her shoulder. When he touched her Lorelai unexpectedly got giddy.

"Thanks. I hope that it goes well." Lorelai continued to stare into Luke's intense eyes and she saw what a great man he was. He was always there for his loved ones, he was one of the most generous people she'd ever met, and not to mention very cute. Lorelai was baffled by all the realizations coming at once. Lorelai put a hand gracefully on Luke's neck and pulled his face down to hers.

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG 

Jess and Rory walked into the room nervously. Jess was kicking himself in his head. How could he be this nervous with a girl? Especially Rory! He'd known her for almost a year, so it wasn't like she didn't know him and he didn't know her. But that was it exactly; for the first time he was with someone that he actually knew, someone he could love.

_Love? Don't even start going there,_ Jess silently told himself. As Jess's fears were slowly building up, Rory's were shedding rapidly. She suddenly felt in control when she saw how Jess was subtly squirming. He was sort of pacing around a small square he seemed to be drawing on the ground with his feet. She giggled silently at him. He looked so cute, and cute was not a word she would really use to describe Jess. Dean was cute, Jess was…_hot._

Rory glided to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, making him stop. He turned to face her and was about to say something but he was cut short by Rory's lips. She initiated a sweet, soft kiss but she had no intention of keeping it _cute_. She started adding a bit more heat into it slowly. Jess was quickly warming up to her, leaving his former inhibitions behind. She felt his tongue ask for entrance like her mouth were the pearly gates of Heaven, which wasn't too far off as far as Jess was concerned. She let him in and soon their tongues were dancing off of each other. Rory never felt like this before, and her passion was quickly turning into fear.

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG 

Luke was more than taken aback by Lorelai's out of the blue kiss. Sure he had wanted to do that for years now, but he had no idea that she ever felt the same way. The kiss was soft and romantic. Of course it would have been much more romantic if the annoying band wasn't playing "Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer" consistently in the background. Luke pulled away first in fear of Lorelai regretting it if it went on any longer. To his surprise when he pulled away the only thing he saw on her face was bliss, and not a trace of regret.

"I gotta go to dinner," she said quickly, the events settling in finally.

"And I got to go check on the diner," he said just as nervously. They both turned around to their separate directions.

_I kissed Luke!_ _Is this a good thing?_ Lorelai was so shocked by her own actions she could hardly walk straight.

_Lorelai kissed me…_Luke was thrilled to say the least, but he also had a very conspicuous sense of fear. These thought wrapped him up until he was at the door of the apartment.

A/N: I'm just not very good at this updating fast thing am I? At least this is pretty long. Well yes I have some Java Junkie in here this chapter, along with a slight cliffy. I couldn't help myself! I promise that the JJ action won't overcome the main story, which is of course Rory and Jess. I'll try to update faster you guys! I love you all, you guys rock!


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